Wooden glue is usually applied onto wood surfaces by using brushes or rollers, or by directly squeezing from the bottle through push-pull closures. Flux is applied by using brushes prior to soldering. Many different types of solvent glue or cement are applied for joining pipes that are made of many different types of material including thermoplastics, which are commonly applied by dipping brushes into a flux, solvent glue, or cement container. These methods not only result in an inconsistent layer of glue, but also require cleaning and removing the excessive dried adhesive or glue from the tools and workpieces.
When applying viscous-material onto a surface to install ceramic tiles or floor coverings, it is common practice to place a quantity of the adhesive or mortar on the surface and then to spread the adhesive or mortar with a notched trowel in order to generate beads that are spaced apart. This procedure is time-consuming and inefficient, and requires a substantial amount of clean-up work.